Anissa Weier was just 12-years-old when she and Morgan Geyser lured Payton Leutner into the woods. They stabbed her 19 times and left her for dead, not realizing she did not succumb to her injuries and was able to find help.
The perpetrators said that they stabbed Leutner in order to appease Slender Man, a fictional horror character born from an internet urban legend. Weier was found not criminally responsible due to a mental disease. She spent the last 3.5 years at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. Now 19-years-old, she is looking for a conditional release back into the community.
Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren will be deciding whether or not Weier is permitted back into society and whether or not she poses a danger to herself and others. Psychologists said that Weier suffered from a "shared delusional disorder" due to Geyser's undiagnosed schizophrenia. Weier also suffered from persistent depressive disorder and schizotypy, which is a condition on the schizophrenia spectrum.
Weier's plea deal in 2017 stated that she wouldn't request her release for at least three years. If her request is denied, she is allowed to request her release once again in six months. Geyser, on the other hand, is serving a 40-year sentence at a mental health facility. She pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide due to mental illness. Geyser can also petition for her release but hasn't done so.
Leutner and her family have stated that they are not afraid for Weier and Geyser's releases. "If they ever come near me they're going back in," she said. "When they get out I don't think it's going to change my life at all."
If Weier is released, she could be assigned case managers who would provide services to her to become "successful and productive." She would be monitored until she is 37-years-old. If she violates her terms, her conditional release would be revoked.